


Hidden

by vakarian_shepard



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Character Study, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 19:09:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8501977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vakarian_shepard/pseuds/vakarian_shepard
Summary: Some days you just want to disappear for a little while.





	

Kaya hurt.

It wasn’t just the thing on her hand, or the insane amounts of walking and fighting she was doing. Her _heart_ hurt. The humans here either hated her, or severely disliked her, or just tolerated her. Varric was nice, at least, but he was still…not her family, she supposed. Solas was a nice sort of reprieve from the _shems_ , at least before he opened his mouth and started talking. It had been fine at first, but then he’d started to sound oddly like he thought himself superior to her, and she couldn’t really fathom _why_. They were both elves, weren’t they? Where did that come from?

Cassandra was as beautiful as she was powerful, and Creators if Kaya didn’t admire warrior women. They were goddesses in their own right, they were, but Cassandra didn’t—well, Kaya got the distinct feeling that Cassandra just didn’t like her.

When she woke up earlier this morning, slowly and wearily, she debated just staying in bed. She’d tell the servant that came in that she felt ill and wanted to sleep, but that idea had its downfalls. For one, she wouldn’t actually get to lay in bed, because they’d send for the healer, and then she’d have to deal with looking the healer in the eye and telling him that she actually just felt like being lazy and wasn’t actually sick. And then someone would drag her off somewhere to deal with something and the whole idea of it just starting a steady throb right behind her eyes.

She wasn’t sure how she ended up in the Chantry’s basement, truthfully. She’d been down here once before, just out of curiosity, and found nothing more than some stray sovereigns and some old books. 

It was dark down here, though, and it made her headache slightly better. The cold that bit at her nose and ears was still something she wasn’t used to, so even as she sat on the cold stone, she pulled her sweater up over her nose and tucked her hands into her sleeves, pulling her knees up as she curled into a ball next to a barrel near the stairs. Hopefully no one would think to look for her down here, at least for a while, she thought as she pressed her forehead to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut, head still pounding.

If her mother were here—

Kaya shook her head, trying to force down that thought before it could make her upset, but judging by the way her eyes began to burn, it was already too late. She wrapped her arms around her shins, hugging her legs closer as she tried to muffle the quiet sob that escaped her throat.

_I want my mom._

She was so upset, drowning in her homesickness, that she didn’t hear someone else walk down the stairs until it was already too late.

“Oh!” said a familiar voice. “Mistress Lavellan! Excuse me, I did not know you were—are you alright?”

Josephine’s feet came into view as she stepped into Kaya’s line of sight, and Kaya laughed a little, shaking her head as she answered thickly, “Fine. I’m fine.”

“…Are you certain?”

Kaya sniffled miserably and shrugged as she looked up to meet the ambassador’s concerned gaze. “I just didn’t want to deal with anyone today is all.” Rubbing at her face with her sleeve, she smiled a little and asked, “What are you doing down here anyway? You hiding, too?”

Josephine rolled her eyes, sighing heavily as she sat on one of the barrels. “Sometimes I can only take so much,” she replied. “I imagine it must be worse for you, though.”

Kaya hummed. “This is the longest I’ve ever been away from my parents. The farthest, too. Dalish don’t really—we typically stay with our family forever, so it’s just—and everything is so different here. I haven’t met a lot of humans, and it’s unnerving to be at the mercy of so many of them.” She paused again, and laughed lightly. “You’re the nicest person here.”

If Kaya didn’t know better, she’d say their dear ambassador was blushing. “Well,” Josephine began, sounding a little flustered, “I do try. If you ever need somewhere else to hide—somewhere warmer, perhaps—we could pretend to be working in my office. I could send Maeve away and we could both…”

Kaya giggled at that, noticing that some of the ache in her chest had faded. How strange. 

“I’d love that. Thank you, Josephine.”


End file.
